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How Superstar Marketers Put Their Brands In The Spotlight

This article is by Mitch Kanner, CEO of 2 Degrees, a Hollywood-based influencer engagement firm.

Image via CrunchBase

The “celebrity” label has become engrained in the marketing conversation. Consider the profound surge of “celebrity” creative directors and “celebrity” brand ambassadors: While these individuals can generate tremendous buzz –and often play a pivotal role in humanizing a brand – their influence is only as successful as it is believable. It isn’t about “celebrity,” it’s about influence. It comes down to who can tell the best story, generate the most interest among consumers, and create the best new thinking – in an authentic way.

A vast array of people can take on a brand’s influencer role, a role that is crucial in a new world of marketing where the line separating marketers from consumers is rapidly diminishing. These influencers must live and breathe the brand, they must actually personify what the brand stands for. Steve Jobs and Sir Richard Branson are perfect examples of this: They are experts at engendering brand relevance in pop culture, where brand decisions are increasingly made.

However brilliant, they did not become famous overnight. Their success at creating influence was born from their ability to create a great brand by creating great products. They became their brand’s biggest evangelists, driving enthusiasm to the marketplace. They in essence created exclusive “clubs” that people wanted to be a part of. The result? They are no longer simply household names, but cultural icons – they are the epitome of what I like to call a “superstar marketer.”

If we define it this way, superstar marketers are hugely relevant within pop culture. From a marketing perspective, the value they generate lies within the influence they inspire. The people most valuable to a brand are the ones creating the most influence, those who come across as the most authentic brand ambassadors by embodying the same things as the brand itself.

Today, there are new iterations of the “Superstar Marketer.” Jenna Lyons, executive creative director and president of J. Crew, has seamlessly morphed from creative marketer to style arbiter and a trusted voice in the consumer marketplace. She is a credible brand advocate because she is, in effect, a direct extension of J. Crew’s brand ethos. Jenna’s creative leadership generates a strong product offering, and gives her the authority to speak on and create trends. She is a creator who innovates and delivers and one of her main sources for inspiration is Mickey Drexler, the man who has created some of the most iconic brands—GapGap and J. Crew—in the apparel industry. Mickey is a superstar marketer who is so influential that he effectively inspired a new breed to cultivate J. Crew’s legacy.

Some might argue superstar marketers are more effective to a brand than a celebrity ambassador, but this is not necessarily the case. If an authentic relationship between a celebrity and brand develops organically, it can lead to strategic partnerships that engender brand relevance in pop culture.

Consider LeBron James and his partnership with Samsung, created in large part through his relationship with Samsung CMO Todd Pendleton. LeBron is a widely known advocate of technology-his educational foundation is a perfect example of its importance to him, which makes him a terrific fit as an ambassador. There is a certain synergy between Samsung and LeBron: Each embodies being at “the top of the game.” With technology woven into LeBron’s daily lifestyle, we are seeing an authentic relationship be created—from the brand’s celebration of his first championship, to his involvement in Samsung’s Super bowl campaign, to the on-going partnership–between an iconic celebrity and a brand who share the same passion.

It is important to emphasize that marketing superstars are the result of a brand, and not the other way around. These influencers forge a powerful partnership with a brand and become highly relevant advocates that deliver the brand’s vision with passion and authenticity, inspiring innovative thinking and a loyal following. These superstars often leverage their expertise into the social media sphere – and other platforms – and essentially achieve fame for bolstering and humanizing their brand.

In that sense, there is no “celebrity” label needed. Influence is what’s driving the new world of marketing. To create this, brands need to move from a transactional mindset to one of looking at partnerships that create movements.

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